Crosses banned at work? Not quite.

The old adage “never believe what you read in the newspapers” has never been so apposite as it has been over the past couple of days.

The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail have surpassed themselves with headlines about the wearing of Christian crosses at work.

In fact there is no ban on crosses in the workplace.

…Nurse Shirley Chaplin, who was working in a hospital wearing a cross on a chain around her neck. The NHS trust’s uniform and dress code prohibits front-line staff from wearing any type of necklace – be that a crucifix or a lucky pixie – in case patients try to grab them.

The Mail and the Telegraph then took up the completely distorted version of the story from the Christian activists who had decided to take it to court.

But in court the whole story has to be told, not just the carefully edited highlights so favoured by the Christian Institute and Christian Concern (who are behind most of these cases). And when the court heard all the details, they threw the claims out. And so did the appeal court. This wasn’t about persecuting Christians, it was about health and safety.

Tip: @Blue_wode via Twitter

Here was a blatant example of how the media is more interested in making headlines and thereby selling more papers/getting more webhits rather than tell the real story.

And also a good example of how people will lash out against something without getting their facts straight.

Shame on them for distorting the story and causing a row. That’s why WE’RE here. You should question.